Direct access storage devices (DASD) have become part of everyday life, and as such, expectations and demands continually increase for greater speed for manipulating and for holding larger amounts of data. To meet these demands for increased performance, the mechano-electrical assembly in a DASD device, specifically the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) has evolved to meet these demands.
Advances in magnetic recording heads as well as the disk media have allowed more data to be stored on a disk's recording surface. The ability of an HDD to access this data quickly is largely a function of the performance of the mechanical components of the HDD. Once this data is accessed, the ability of an HDD to read and write this data quickly is primarily a function of the electrical components of the HDD.
A computer storage system may include a magnetic hard disk(s) or drive(s) within an outer housing or base containing a spindle motor assembly having a central drive hub that rotates the disk. An actuator includes a plurality of parallel actuator arms in the form of a comb that is movably or pivotally mounted to the base about a pivot assembly. A controller is also mounted to the base for selectively moving the comb of arms relative to the disk.
Each actuator arm has extending from it at least one cantilevered electrical lead suspension. A magnetic read/write transducer or head is mounted on a slider and secured to a flexure that is flexibly mounted to each suspension. The read/write heads magnetically read data from and/or magnetically write data to the disk. The level of integration called the head gimbal assembly (HGA) is the head and the slider, which are mounted on the suspension. The slider is usually bonded to the end of the suspension.
A suspension has a spring-like quality, which biases or presses the air-bearing surface of the slider against the disk to cause the slider to fly at a precise distance from the disk. Movement of the actuator by the controller causes the head gimbal assemblies to move along radial arcs across tracks on the disk until the heads settle on their set target tracks. The head gimbal assemblies operate in and move in unison with one another or use multiple independent actuators wherein the arms can move independently of one another.
To allow more data to be stored on the surface of the disk, more data tracks must be stored more closely together. The quantity of data tracks recorded on the surface of the disk is determined partly by how well the read/write head on the slider can be positioned and made stable over a desired data track. During read/write operations, there is present within the HDD an internally generated air turbulence that is caused by the rotation of the disk(s). Hard Disk Drives with faster disk rotational speeds are subject to increased air turbulence. The generated air turbulence can cause instability in the read/write head during read/write operations.
With reference to FIG. 5, to control some of the generated air flow, e.g., air flow 14 in a hard disk drive, e.g., drive 99, an air flow bypass channel has been implemented within the structure of housing 13 of HDD 99, e.g., bypass channel 55. Air flow bypass channel 55 is able to capture air flow 14, centrifugally directed outward and which is generated by disk(s) 15 during operation, and recirculate, or channel, air flow 14 so as to control the direction of some of the generated air turbulence.
There is also an air flow, e.g., air flow 18, generated by disk(s) 15 and directed toward the suspension and the read/write, generally indicated by dotted line 27, and which is not captured by air flow bypass channel 14. To that extent, a spoiler component, e.g., spoiler component 90, has been developed to further diffuse and/or redirect a generated air flow away from the suspension and read/write head. To incorporate a spoiler 90 into a hard disk drive 13, a portion of inner wall 51 of air flow bypass channel 55 is removed from and/or omitted during the fabrication thereof, generally indicated by dotted line 40, allowing installation of spoiler 90. The removed/omitted portion 40 of inner wall 51 and spoiler 90 are observed not to provide a complete inner wall 51, thus allowing air flow 14 to escape from bypass channel 55, as indicated by arrow 50.